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Where does the word dearth come from?
Dearth has, in one form or another, been used to refer to scarcity since at least the 13th century, when it often referred specifically to the plague of famine (as in “a time of dearth”), whether brought on by an insidious crop disease or by invaders. The word traces back to the Old English adjective dēore, meaning “dear” (dēore is also the ancestor of dear, which also once meant “scarce,” though that sense is now obsolete). That notion of dearness or importance endures in dearth, which implies the absence or scarcity of not just any old thing, but of something one wants or needs. A dearth of mauls, for example, would be the bane of a woodcutter’s existence.
Examples of dearth in a Sentence
Julie Bosman, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2006
… Earnhardt has recently hinted that a company-wide dearth of talent is the core reason his Chevy simply isn't as fast in 2005 as it's been in the past.
—Lars Anderson, Sports Illustrated, 11 Apr. 2006
AirNet, which hauls bank checks and other time-critical freight, used to require that its pilots have at least 1,200 hours of flight experience. Then, faced with a dearth of experienced applicants, it dropped the requirement to 500 hours. Now, it has no minimum.
—Scott McCartney, Wall Street Journal, 10 Aug. 2000
there was a dearth of usable firewood at the campsite
the dearth of salesclerks at the shoe store annoyed us
Kristina P. Brant, The Conversation, 26 Feb. 2025
That’s because the selection committee looks at more than straight metrics, and the Aztecs are superior in areas like quality wins, a dearth of bad losses, strength of schedule and the relative strength of their league.
—Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Feb. 2025
The end result was a deft 2008 satirizing of Hollywood's dearth of Black lead roles.
—Marco Della Cava, USA TODAY, 12 Feb. 2025
That’s not uncommon: Many freelance entertainment workers have faced a dearth of work in the past few years through the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2023 writers’ and actors’ strikes and the overall contraction in the business, with the wildfires just the latest hurdle.
—Katie Kilkenny, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Jan. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Dearth.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dearth. Accessed 10 Mar. 2025.
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